Telehealth Psychotherapy for Anxiety in Persons With Cognitive Impairment

The University of Queensland10 enrolled

Overview

This project will pilot a tailored Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) intervention delivered via telehealth videoconferencing (Tele-CBT) to reduce anxiety in people living with cognitive impairment. A process evaluation will inform its feasibility and implementation in the community nation-wide.

Anxiety is a pre-existing mental health issue in older persons with cognitive impairment (includes people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia), with considerably high prevalence (14%) as compared to older persons in the general population (3%). Anxiety results in accelerated cognitive decline, increased aggressive behaviours, and even an increased risk of suicide. Anxiety also negatively influences quality of life (QoL) of the individual with cognitive impairment and their care partner, increases early institutionalisation, and amplifies economic burden. The Tele-CBT package used in this study is a modification of existing manualised psychotherapeutic interventions for treatment of anxiety in people with Parkinson's disease and older adults with cognitive impairment. This new package incorporates techniques tailored to reduce anxiety in people with cognitive impairment, including symptom monitoring. The interventions will include various psychological techniques aimed at reducing anxiety and stress. The intervention consists of 6 weekly psychotherapy sessions. Each therapy session lasts between 30-60 minutes, depending on the participants' capacity to actively participate in session and on their cognitive functioning (e.g. complex attention, executive function). Support persons will be invited and instructed to actively engage in the therapy sessions as well as in between-session home tasks to support the person with cognitive impairment. These techniques will be facilitated via the use of non-immersive videos in telehealth videoconferencing.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Psychotherapy Cognitive Impairment Anxiety

Interventions

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)BEHAVIORAL

The CBT intervention includes 6 sessions via video-conferencing that has been tailored for people living with cognitive impairment. The sessions incorporate the use of psychoeducation and relaxation videos to improve home-based practise for long-term outcomes.

Eligibility

Sex: ALL

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Persons with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia of any aetiology based on a previous diagnosis by a clinician or scoring above threshold (≤32; MCI ≤32 and dementia ≤27) for cognitive impairment in the Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Impairment (TICS-M). * Persons screening positive for anxiety (scoring ≥9 in the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, GAI) or reports subjective complaints of anxiety Exclusion Criteria: * Persons with severe dementia * Persons who are unable to communicate or complete questionnaires * Persons who are at high risk of suicide as identified by by the University of Queensland Suicidal Risk Assessment administered at the UQ Psychology clinic which has been modified for use by the Dementia and Neuro Mental Health Research Unit * Persons who have major depression as the primary complaint without reported symptoms of anxiety. * Persons on existing anxiolytics or antidepressants who have not been on a stable dose for at least 12 weeks before starting the trial and are unable to maintain the same dose for the duration of the trial. Changes to medication will be checked at each therapy and assessment session. * Persons who are undergoing psychological therapy or will undergo psychological therapy over the trial duration. Entry into the study: Study entry will be determined by discussions with the core investigator team consisting of clinicians and experienced researchers.

Locations (1)

The University of Queensland

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in anxiety

Change from baseline in anxiety as measured by the Rating Anxiety in Dementia Scale (RAID).

Time frame: Post assessment (week 8). Scores ranging between 0 to 54 (lower score indicates better outcomes)

Secondary Outcomes

Change in depression

Change from baseline in depression as measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)

Time frame: Post assessment (week 8). Scores ranging between 0 to 15 (lower score indicates better outcomes)

Change in quality of life

Change from baseline in quality of life as measured by the Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease (QoL-AD)

Time frame: Post assessment (week 8). Scores ranging between 0 to 52 (higher score indicates better outcomes)

Change in carer burden

Change from baseline in carer burden as measured by the Zarit Burden Inventory (ZBI)

Time frame: Post assessment (week 8). Scores ranging between 0-88 (lower score indicates better outcomes)

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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